La Sylphide

A Romantic Ballet in Two Acts

March 2—6, 2016

La Sylphide

A Romantic Ballet in Two Acts

March 2—6, 2016

About the Ballet

Restaged by Johan Kobborg

The work that, more than any other, established many of the central themes and conventions of Romantic ballet, La Sylphide remains to this day not just a historical landmark, but a vital and thrilling example of the art of storytelling in dance. The ballet relates the story of a young Scottish farmer, James, who, on the eve of their wedding, abandons his betrothed, Effie, after being enticed away to the forest by the ethereal Sylphide of the title. But when the Sylphide dies and Effie marries another, James is left tragically alone.

Johan Kobborg’s expressive and attentive restaging of the ballet fully embraces the ballet’s Romantic preoccupations, such as the link between the feminine and the supernatural and the hero who forsakes happiness in the real world for an idealized, unearthly beauty. But he also employs the ballet’s legendary virtuosity and technical challenges not just as ends in themselves, but to support and enhance our understanding of the characters, enlivening and vividly reframing the work as few modern productions have.